Coin Operated Boy
by Akky-chan
Summary: Road's been begging, and the Earl finally gave in. She's getting a new toy, a Coin Operated Boy, and she's completely taken with him, but the exorcists are a bit suprised when they meet him. AllenxRoad RodAl semi-AU. Some fluff, some angst, some other.
1. Coin Opperated Boy

**Yes, I know, I promised everyone a sequel to "When All Is Missing" and I'm not going to back out just yet. But this idea's been bugging me for a bit (lol, one or two days xD I have never given into a plot bunny this easily!) so this is sort of going to take up space until I can finally get the sequel started.**

**This is going to be pretty short, probably, but it will hopefully stretch into a few chapters at least. The idea came around from the song "Coin Operated Boy" by Dresen Dolls and there was a YT video with Allen and Road in it, and... well, you know the rest. Try to find it on YT, it's pretty good. The song will probably come into play somewhere in this fic.**

**And this is a SEMI-AU, so that means that the exorcists and Noah all exist here, and Allen is simply excluded from this all... but the Mana incident did happen, and that might come into play later. It's after Lala's mission apparently, and right before Miranda's. The timeline is a little skewered, so please don't hate me for that -.-**

**Oh, and this is total Obsessive!AllenxRoad, so be warned. It's not like sis-con (Komui) but please, please PLEASE notice that this is under TRAGEDY !! It will probably not have the best ending, so be careful. It's total RodAl, I repeaet. TOTAL TRAGEDY RodAl!! **

**Disclaimer: If I owned DGM or the song "Coin Operated Boy", I'd already have my own Coin!Allen...**

The night was frigid, ice nipping at anything akin to exposed flesh, forcing her to pull the loosely woven, white wool shawl tighter around her. It was certainly not her favorite piece of clothing, but the night was too much, and so she could hardly go out on her usual lolita. As much as she loved the skirt and the current fashion, frilly shirts in their soon-to-be trademark eighteen-hundreds fashion, it was simply not enough to protect her from the night air.

The streets were still very damp from the recent rainstorm, puddles forming in the streets and droplets trickling in ominous rhythms off buildings with slanted copper roofs. The eerie double-glow from street lamps and starlight lit the silent street and led the effect of the buildings seeming to lean crookedly, looming in over her onto the street like seeing through a carnival mirror. Bluish light seemed to envelope everything as her silent figure strode down the abandoned street like a ghost.

She turned sharply into an alleyway at the corner, slipping into the glass elevator that was stowed behind the dumpster, hidden away from all of the waking world. It's walls transparent without the oddly positioned light hitting it at the perfect angle. As it was slowly pulled up from a thick steel-woven chord, it seemed as though her feet were being lifted away, up off of the ground.

The sound was that of a horrible groan, long and deep. The chord needed replacing. The wind did not enter as she was toed higher and higher, but her breath still appeared on the fogging glass and she pulled her shawl around again, even tighter. Golden eyes cast around the scape as the ground slowly pulled farther away. It was not an unusual sight for her, but the strange way it was done was slightly unnerving.

Nevertheless, she wasn't going to back up just yet if after months of begging the Earl had finally given her permission, especially not if she had to go home and tell everyone that the way getting there scared her and that was why she didn't go all the way. It would have been so much simpler if she could just make a door appear, but she didn't know the exact location, so she couldn't. Stupid power limitations.

The elevator jolted angrily as it finally came to its slow stop. The doors slid open with a liquid motion worthy of a place of such technological advantages, unlike the elevator. The walls, in all their steel-grayish sternness, were oddly attractive in such a place, with no pictures or plaques on it. The floors were polished redwood in between spaces and gaps of the more common milk-white carpets. Nothing fancy or flashy, as expected. The place had not been build for family comfort, but business.

The moment she entered and felt the warmth of indoors, she allowed the shawl to loosen around her shoulders. A man bustled up to her, hunchbacked and black hair greased and pulled into a low ponytail that hung limply on his back. Thick rimmed glasses enlarged his dull green eyes. His frame was oddly skeletal, and he had the certain look that of a man who was in love with his machines might have.

"Hello, hello," He asked, his voice sounding halfway stale from disuse. She supposed the customers had either declined, which was unlikely as this place was quite popular. More likely, he had some sort of strep, but as long as he didn't pass it to her, she was fine, if not a bit unnerved, with the increased effect the bad voice gave him. "I am Justin Rodrickle,what is your name, my dear customer, and what may I do for you?"

She coughed to clear her throat, hoping her voice would not come out so horribly scratched as his. "Road," She said, slowly gaining the confidence she had lost slightly on the trip over. "Road Camelot. I want a coin-boy."

Rodrickle's eyebrows went up "A coin boy?" He asked, "What would you like him to have?" Road smiled evilly.

"Everything!" She declared happily. Rodrickle's eyes widened even more.

"Miss Camelot, are you completely aware of how much a single, nothing-special coin-boy costs?" He asked. "I hardly think you have enough money for one with _everything_," He insisted. Most businesses would be fine with having her take it on credit, but he was one of the few who remained who wanted real money. This charging business was much too complicated.

"No sir!" She chanted, "I want a doll with _everything_, and I have all the money I need with me right now!" Let no one misunderstand, there were plenty of features for coin boys. Or rather, people whom were not real people. Coin boys were life-sized dolls, and they felt like flesh and blood. The features you asked for determined the personality and their abilities.

The features were far ranged from house-workers and entertainers to whores and then the final step to murderers. It really didn't matter to Rodrickle if his creations were executed for something their new owners had done, because after they had been sold, he was no longer connected to them in any way shape or form.

However, that was nothing to say he would ever let one of his customers be dissatisfied with their coin operated boy.

"Actually, I want the best one you have!" She shrieked joyously. Rodrickle chuckled in a soft maniac sort of way. This girl was really in for something if she wanted his prized coin operated boy.

"There is a slight defect with his weapon, Miss," He said, "But if you would like, you may have a trial with my best yet..." His voice was low and almost hissed, but it was filled with such pride and cockiness that it seemed to dare Road to insult this doll of his.

And so, three minutes later, she was in a small room, steel-lined and prepared for whatever she might want to do with this coin-boy that Rodrickle sent in. Sets of weaponry were in one corner and storybooks in the other. Miscellaneous objects from toys to instruments and objects of the unspeakable in the last. It was truly prepared for whatever Road might want to have him do. _Anything _she might want him to do.

She was slightly ecstatic when he finally came through the other door. According to Rodrickle, what she would see him do today would be nothing compared to when she actually bought him. Coin-operated boys were not given their names for nothing. It took a special token to turn them on completely, and as of now, the boy didn't yet have a coin. Rather, he was on auto-pilot and only a fraction of what he should be.

His white hair was absolutely gorgeous, short and cropped, never growing nor getting cut as his bangs were perfectly parted over his currently-void silver eyes. According to Rodrickle, that would also change when he was complete, but for now, she would have to deal with the unrealistic, emotionless eyes.

There was hardly anything special about his clothes, but on him, they looked absolutely fabulous. His long black pants were tight, pressing into his legs and etching them out perfectly, his shirt a plain white, long-sleeved button-down, but it was folded and twisted slightly in the perfect spots to make him look oddly handsome, and it certainly was alluring that certain spots on the shirt seemed almost as though she could see through them to the handsomely carved chest. Or maybe that was a trick of the wrinkles.

It was all completed with knee-high boots and a blood red ribbon tied in a bow around his neck.

His only so-far seen flaw was the scar on the side of his face, but Rodrickle had explained that away too. The body he had used to create this coin-boy, apparently a boy whom had been about fifteen, had been in an accident, and the process of becoming a coin-boy had simply warped the scar to that particular-looking shape. Road was not complaining in the slightest, in fact she was wondering exactly how she could play with that scar some.

It was so bright a red color she got the feeling she could reach out and touch it, even at this distance, trace it out with her thin fingers, and once he was awake, watch at how his face changed while she did it. Scared and confused, awed and flustered, or perhaps he was more the sluttish type and he would moan at the feeling? Whichever, she was sure she would like it.

He was already near her, his face carved into the same soft smile he had been wearing ever since he had first entered through the other door. He bowed low and sweetly, never taking his eyes off her. The gentlemanly type, apparently. "Good evening, what would you like me to do?"

Road smirked before trotting off to the corner with the weapons piled in them. "Just don't try to be quiet," She said as she picked out a bear-claw and several small daggers. The coin-boy smiled.

"As you wish it."

The screams were like honey.

000

"So?" Rodrickle asked.

"I want him!" Road cheered gleefully, stepping out of the room covered in blood. The doll's blood, of course. Not only did the screaming sound like honey, his blood tasted sweeter than any sort of candy she had ever tasted. He was still in the other room, his robotic body crippled against the wall, still bleeding the honey-like blood.

Rodrickle smiled in a slightly crooked sort of way. "You get the money ready while I fix him up."

It took nearly ten minutes before the coin operated boy was back to his former glory. Once he was completely awakened, he would heal on his own as long as he didn't have any limbs severed, so Rodrickle advised against that unless she wanted to make a trip back to his store.

His eyes were closed as he was lain against the steel wall, newly fixed and fitted with clothes that weren't torn to shreds. He looked peaceful, as though he were sleeping calmly, and for some reason, Road loved this face just as much as the face twisted in absolute, unearthly pain. Such a beautiful doll, she would love to have him. And it was only fated that she would have him.

Rodrickle handed her a single bronze coin and lifted the doll's head up to show her a slit on the back of his neck. Grinning, she bent down into a position in front of him that he would see her the first thing when he woke up. Carefully, lifting his head, she felt around his neck and located the slit before dropping the coin inside him. There were some soft clunks as he started to work before they all fell silent and his chest rose and fell as though truly taking in breaths.

Road stood and backed up slightly, watching as his eyes opened from an angle, first small slits of silver growing into full eyes. Not the eyes she had seen before but eyes that looked as though they truly came from a person whom had so much soul in him, he had to hold it in his eyes. His head lifted up and he locked his silver eyes with Road's golden ones. Perfect contrast and fit.

"Allen, this is Road. Road is your master now."

The newly named Allen opened his mouth and formed some sort of word. He carefully lifted himself onto his feet and stood up straight, but when Road expected him to bow again, she instead met with a gentle hug and a soft voice whispering in her ear.

"_Road_."


	2. Innocence

**Third day of being sick. House has offically run out of tissues. Need food that is not soaked in cream cheese -.- ala, story of my life**

**Okay... this is short, but it's a transitional chapter, so I couldn't really do much with it... **

**disclaimer: um... if I owned DGM, then Allen would no longer be a virgin... cuz Road wouldn't have stopped at nailing him to the wall and burning half his clothes off BD**

Allen did not complain at all as Road made her way back home with him, the cold biting at her skin yet again, but the doll sent out some sort of heat as he wrapped his arms around her, warming her almost instantly. It was certainly no josh when Rodrickle said that his coin operated boys could do almost anything.

It was so comfortable, Road decided she might forget about using her door for a slight while. And after a while, she realized, being a doll made to please their masters, he couldn't object to carrying her about the rest of the distance, right? It was like a comfy, well-moving horse that didn't require her to balance on. Not only that, but it was like lying on a heating pad. Tyki and the Earl hardly ever let her ride piggy-back. Now she could do it whenever she wanted! It would be great!

"I'M BACK!" The mostly silent mansion echoed with the sound of Road's voice, calling her siblings at the top of her lungs. Within moments, what was once only quiet and echo turned into a stampeede of thundering footsteps and shouts of 'what's it look like?' and 'so many freakin' toys!', mostly from Jesdevi. The rest mostly moved down silently, only even showing up to be sure the first child wouldn't corner them on their own.

And brag about her newest toy. For hours. And hours. And a few more hours for good measure. Then she would suddenly remember him and run off. And the screaming would be too loud for sleep. And she would hunt them down the next day. And brag more. And more. And more. And maybe a bit more before she would remember he would be healed by then.

And so on.

Most of them were down in time to see Road sliding off the back of a young boy whom they had never seen before. Well, it was somewhat obvious why they hadn't seen him before, as he had most likely only recently been purchased. His look was unusual, but oddly alluring. There was something in the way he had been crafted and programmed to move that made you believe he was very much real.

"And this is?" The Earl asked, his large figure appearing out of nowhere into their midst. Road cheered and ran forward to hug her 'grandfather' 's huge belly, as she wasn't quite tall enough to hug him around his neck.

"It's Alleeeen!" She chanted, holding the last silibal much longer than necessary before jumping off the Earl and running back to hug the coin boy tightly, him making no move to stop her, but just letting her do as she pleased. Road grinned and hugged even tighter until she could faintly hear the small clicks of machines in him struggling to keep his constant form. The Noahs apparently heard this sound as well, despite how minute, and looked at each other, wondering how the boy could still have a straight face when being pushed to the point of nearly snapping in half.

The Earl, hoping his money would last a bit longer than several hours, decided to distract Road momentarily. "What did you get for him, Road?" He asked, referring to the special features and abilities that coin boys all had personalized for their owners. A wide grin took over her face.

"Everything!" She cheered. The Earl laughed knowingly, he had figured Road would get the most expensive, extravagant, and downright torturable doll she could find.

"Well, lezzus seez what 'e c'n duh!" David cheered, over-accenting his already highly-pronounced accent, which didn't actually seem to be from anywhere, but made up as the twins went along. It sounded as though they had incorporated what they thought was a French accent into their usual. Road ignored it, cyphering what they had said within moments.

"Allen, dodge everything they throw at you and stop them somehow," She said, loosening her grip on him until he was able to slip out of her grasp. His smile was still etched onto his face effortlessly.

"As you wish it, Road," He recited. The twins pulled out their revolvers as their skin darkened to the shade of ashen gray. The revolvers clicked rapidly as the bullets automatically loaded without the ammo even having to exist in the first place. Road's door appeared and swallowed her up, another reappearing at the Earl's side as she hopped out to watch how her new toy would fare.

Allen vanished from the path of the blue bomb quite easily, running forward the moment the twins had begun to fire with the grace and speed of a large feline. Left, right, left, jump, fall. Duck, left again, and repeat. He was buying time, figuring out how the twins attacked as he twisted and turned and jumped and ducked. Like a twisted dance in which there were a few too many people.

His metallic gray eyes remained fixed solidly on Jesdevi, which was no small feat, as he was constantly dodging and memorizing attacks. It was only the computer-like memory system that he managed to do all of this at once. They never moved from one another's side. Allen figured if he could get them appart, he could easily stop the threat, as Road had said.

He slipped off a glove and in the back of his mind, a switched clicked and activated the remaining part of the human he had once been. The gears implanted in the arm slowly spun, giving it energy to activate and move as the flux hit him and the change began.

The great white cape grew to unimaginable sizes as the fabric was pulled out of his shoulders, spanning across the room, easily slipping between Jesdevi and retching them apart. The attacks immediately ceased.

The Earl laughed gleefully, Road jumping off his shoulders to run over and knock Allen over with another gear-crushing hug. The white cape retracted, releasing the twins amazingly unharmed. They blinked before running over to each other, screaming that they had been too far apart.

The Earl clapped in approval. "My my, that was quite interesting!" Road smiled, turning her head away from the doll.

"See Earl? Arent you glad you let me get him now?" She squeed, joy radiating off her. "Not only do we get a doll who'll do anything I ask, he even has an Innocence!"

000

"Lenalee! Lavi! Komui wants to see you in his office!" Reever yelled from across the training area, "You has a mission for you," Lavi nodded to Lenalee as he dodged a stroke from Mugen.

"Tell him we'll be there in a minute," Lenalee called back. Lavi twirled his hammer in his fingers before commanding it to grow and swinging it at Kanda. "Lavi and Kanda are sparring, they'll be finished soon," Reevre nodded and kept walking, he, Johnny and Tapp all trying to see over the huge stacks of papers they were carrying.

It took Kanda five more minutes, give or take, to knock Lavi into the wall and hold him at sword point.

"Touche, already, Yu," Lavi whined from his grounded position, "You win!" Kanda clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"First, you're frickin' slow, second, don't call me that, third, I'm not French, what the hell does 'touche' mean?" He demanded, Mugen hovering closer and closer to Lavi's uncovered eye. Lavi laughed nervously. He wondered in the back of his mind how Kanda could know it was French but not what it meant, but he was much too preoccupied with the kantana that threatened to run him through to voice the question.

"Kanda, leave him alive, we need him for the mission," Lenalee called from the other side of the training area. She had to admit, it was pretty amusing, but they had kept Reever and Komui waiting a bit too long and they should probably be going.

And so, Kanda finally did back away... but only because he had some respect for Lenalee. Lavi took the immediate chance to escape and sprinted out the door. Meanwhile, Lenalee had taken the extra few seconds to wave to Kanda before sprinting off. Kanda snorted and promptly began killing training dummies.

Lenalee and Lavi arrived in Komui's office within another five minutes and were about to apologize for making them wait so long. They arrived to see Komui half buried under stacks and piles of books, dep bags under his eyes and Johnny collapsed on top of it all.

Komui stretched out a struggling hand to give them their mission folders. "We think there's an innocence there, but we're not sure," He said, "But it's a maybe. Don't get your hopes up, because we cant be sure, so it's a maybe. But maybe it's there," The stack promptly avalanched and covered him completely. Johnny fell off the side, collapsed from lack of sleep.

"Got it with the maybe, Komui," Lavi said exasperatedly. He and Lenalee then set to the task of digging him out.

That took about five more minutes. They would miss the last trains if they didn't hurry. But they were finally getting somewhere.

"It's hard to explain, but there seems to be a rewinding city."

"Rewinding?"

**Okay guys... what do you want Allen to do for Road throughout this fic? Cuz, the fact is, he's basically a servant who A) can do everything except B) he cant refuse anything**

**So if no one's willing to submit opinions for what Allen should do... I'm afraid I'll have to settle for repetitive, implied smut lD of course, I have no problem with that, but i'd like your opinions before I do something like that... keheheh... -in the weird mood-**


	3. Music

**Another transitional. Sorry. Next chapt, we'll get an actual plot moving, but I really wanted to get the piano in here, cuz I love Allen playing the piano! We need more clips of it...**

**Am I THAT obvious with my plots lately?? I had a lot of it worked out pretty early with writing this... like, first-sentence early... 7.7 and yet I have already been caught... but I shant say by who, you'll have to wait for that u.u'**

**Good news!... I'm only coughing as of now... I was able to get to school on Thursday... haha, I missed almost all of the Presidential Fitness Exam in gym!! Yay for being bedridden for three days!! 8D **

**And I'm sorry for not replying to everyone, especially everyone who gave me long reviews! I swear, I read them and I absolutely adore every review I get, but sometimes I have problems deciding what to write in them, so if I havent replied to you... I'm sorry!! I'll try to reply to as many of you as I can, so if I don't get to you, please don't be too angry with me!!**

**I decided to update this one first because a) As We Are Found is supposed to be sorta complicated, since I'm basically writing DGM and b) ...well, I put my entire music library on shuffle, and if it was a Love-ish song, I would write this, if it was Rock (aka, most of my non-love-ish songs) then I'd write As We Are Found, and I cam up with "My Hero" and "Here we Go Again", both by Paramore, so you're stuck with the love for this update XD**

**disclaimer: ...man, third chapter and I'm already tired of saying it! D.Gray-Man is property of someone who's gender we thought was resolved, but then took a 360 and we still don't know!!**

Allen slumped against the wall, breathing hard as his manufactured lungs pumped his chest up and down, air going in and out of the plastic tube that ran through his chest and into his mouth to act as a wind pipe. His eyes bled supposedly artificial blood, as with the flesh wounds covering his arms and legs. Scratches dotting his face.

The blood was actually as real as it could get. The original blood cells from the body were still functioning well enough to reproduce, clot and bleed as blood cells are supposed to do. He instinctively hacked as Road kneed him in the stomach, her skirt, much too short to be legally called a skirt, flew up momentarily. He slumped to the floor, blood dribbling out of his mouth now from when he bit his tongue on the contact.

The pain sensors in his stomach registered he should have at least five broken ribs and cracked several smaller bones, possibly even bruising some internal organs. He shortened his breaths to half-pants, his chest jumping up and falling back down. Almost no exhale, almost no inhale. Small croaking sounds resulted from the tightening and release of his voice box. His pupils were supposed to dilate at that point, though he had no idea if they had or not. She may have easily broken that particular machine while crushing his head with the Akuma several minutes earlier.

His steel-plated cord of a backbone arched him forward as the nerves in his eye received a violent shock from one of her pointed candles plunging into the manufactured cell tissue. The vocal cords scrunched together with a friction that made his metallic body almost vibrate with the strain and pitch. Road grinned joyously. Allen stopped himself from twitching the nerves and miniature rods serving as muscles in his mouth upwards.

It went on like that for several more minutes until the sensors in Allen deemed him dead and his body slumped over in a grand impression of lifelessness. Road giggled happily and nudged him a few times in the ribs, sending out small clicks of broken 'bones' rubbing against each other.

"Road! Supper! You're not missing it for the doll!" Tyki's voice echoed around the vast hall of Road's dimension.

"But Tyki! I wanna stay with him!" She wailed back.

"So bring him along!"

Road blinked and looked down at the doll slumped over on the wall. She wondered exactly how fast the healing process would actually take. "Well, you heard him," She said impatiently, "Get better."

The doll shuddered, his legs suddenly straightened and pulled his body up. His skin seemed to ripple over his frame as the cuts and scrapes and even his empty eye socket slowly pulled themselves together, seemingly sewing themselves up. The cuts melted together and smoothed over, smooth skin returning. Unmarred. His eyelids closed and opened again, revealing his eye once again moving and working properly, it's silverish gray shade unchanged.

And he was standing up again as though nothing had ever happened other than him tearing his clothes occasionally. The blood smears faded into his pale skin and within moments, he was revived.

Road whistled. "Wow."

Allen smiled calmly. Road turned and he followed loyally, exiting the dimension and following Road to where the Noahs were awaiting Supper.

000

Lenalee and Lavi sat at opposite ends of the compartment. The train rumbled quietly as it jolted down the tracks. It was usual for exorcists to go in pairs by taking the train, but something seemed off.

"I'm getting a bad vibe about this mission," Lavi muttered, looking over his file.

"Me too," Lenalee replied, "I don't know why though, I just think something's going to go off..."

Lavi nodded. The town was coming closer and he could see it by looking out his window. The finder rapped on the door, sticking his head in and reminding them that they were going to depart soon. Lenalee cast his a look and he nodded back.

Something was wrong. They would make find out what part of the mission if they had to.

000

"Fodder, my dears!" The Earl squeed. Tyki frowned at the word in particular, but ate along with his family nevertheless. After all, he was the one who didn't care what it was as long as it kept him full. Still, Road was beside him, turning her head back to look at her new toy so often it looked like she had a bad twitch. Tyki reasoned she was contemplating what to do with him after the meal.

Thankfully, the Earl noticed, and decided to take pity on Tyki.

"Road? Would you like Allen to entertain us?" He asked. Tyki's face fell. He didn't want to have blood all over his food while he was eating! Well, yes, he was the Noah of Pleasure, and his pleasure tended to involve killing people, but it wasn't as though he enjoyed the blood. It soiled his gloves far too often...

"Yes!" Road screamed. "Yes, make him—"

"—Play some music!" Sheryll interrupted. Tyki breathed a sigh of relief that was mistook for exasperation. Road looked at her 'father' disbelievingly. Sheryll just smiled and shrugged. "Is there anything better than music while having a supper?" He asked.

"But I don't want music! Music's all boring and bad!" Road wailed.

"I'll give you some extra candy after supper..." Sheryll teased. Road stiffened and weighed her options. On one hand, she could have some blood and screaming right then, or she could have it later, and do it while eating candy as well... Maybe even compare his blood to the candy to see which one was sweeter.

"Okay!" Road cheered, agreeing instantly after the options finished scrolling by. "Allen, play the piano!" She cried, pointing to a grand piano at the far side of the room.

_I never thought it'd happen, but I owe you, big brother_, Tyki thought as Allen promptly made his way to the far side of the room and sat onto the piano bench. He lifted the lid on the keys and the piano cover to expose the strings and hammers inside before running his fingers swiftly over the high keys.

And there was music.

Dancing, playing and sweeping through the room. Light, high sounds, fast and in a pattern impossible to make out. Deeper sounds joined in, mixing in water. Smoothly, liquid. It seemed more as though there was a full orchestra playing rather than a single piano, the music moved so powerfully.

The words the boy sang softly along with the melody were etched into their skulls forever, even though they could not make out a single word. The soft tap of gloves on wood was in the background, along with the soft whispers of breath and heartbeats, mixing along in with the music.

Everything was a music. It cut off very suddenly, then picked up again smoothly. The story it told was hanging in the air, a melody of artificial flowers.

And before they knew anything, it was done. It's echo lingered in the air, purifying everything. Road glanced at the robotic boy.

And there was just something a bit different she couldn't place. But there was definitely one thing she knew.

"Allen, play another one."

"As you wish it, Road."


	4. The Rewinding City

**Movie suggestion – An American Carol**

**You don't have to be an American to love it xD in fact... I think almost anyone will get a kick out of it! Happy 4th!! (Really... it cheered me up after the DGM anime's 'ending'.)**

**Oh... and here's something that might make people happy... a friend on dA siad that he/she knew someone from Japan who said that the anime was just on haitus and waiting for more chapters to come out, so when they start again, it'll be like a sequel to our D.Gray-Man! ...what'll they call it? 'The Fourteenth Man' ? Okay, bad joke, I know, but really... doesn't that soothe the anguish? **

**It's four pages, it's been a bit, and it was for some reason hard to write T.T I love Lavi and Lenalee to death, but... they're hard to write for some strange reason 0.o ...maybe I'm not as in synch with them as I am Allen and Road?**

**Oh, yeah.. sorry, not much Allen and Road in here. There was too much to be done with Lavi and Lenalee, and I'm sorry, I think Miranda's out of character... and she doesn't have a very big part in here, I'm afraid... sorry, Miranda fans!**

**...This is already longer than what I thought it would be... I mean, I thought it was going to be like... four chapters in total, and here we are, chapter four, not even halfway done! 0.o;**

**I'm still looking for suggestions for what to do between them. Suggestions?**

**And sorry, Allen cant develop 'his own' personality. Trust me, I have a reason, but it's a sad reason, and a spoiler, so... okay, yeah, just leave it as he cant have his old personality back.**

**Disclaimer: The first person who asks me if I've finally run out of creative disclaimers, I sic an Akuma on, got it?**

Lavi and Lenalee felt small tremors go through their bodies as they entered the barrier, but not much of anything more. It was not going to be a good mission, they had decided that on the train as they had discussed the horrible feelings they both were harboring. It lasted through the ride and now into the city. A city they most likely would not be able to leave.

"I'll check the wall, you go scout the town," Lavi whispered, even though there was really no need to whisper. Lenalee nodded in reply. They spared one last glance out at where they had entered. There was no finder there, only the darkness of the sunset the town had experienced over a month ago. The air was warmer and less heavy. It really was a complete other time.

They had arrived later than they would have liked, do to technical difficulties with the train. It was late now, the time when a typical ten or twelve hour day would be ending. People going home exhausted from work. Lavi swallowed as he looked at the moon, which had apparently been stuck at full for a month. It was a scary idea, a town be suspended in time. He wondered vaguely how long they would be trapped in it.

Lenalee gave him a sidelong look before taking the first few steps toward the town, whispering a soft 'see you later,' to him. They had decided before hand that if they separated for one reason or another, they would meet at the Belini Bar, where the whole mission had originated from. Ten barrels of wine delivered by the tenth... it was as if 'ten' was the new unlucky number. Shaking the thought out of his head, Lavi grinned good-naturedly and stalked off to find a good spot in the wall to trash.

The wall was apparently stones laid one on the other, by hand and not the new machines that people had been recently inventing. The town had been around a while, apparently. It was made it's color by the whitewash on it, which smeared onto Lavi's hand as he rubbed it. Whistling to himself as he pulled out his hammer and twirled it loosely between his fingers.

Finding a spot he didn't like too well, he flicked the hammer up. As though by planned-out cliché, it spun in the moonlight, which was growing more noticeable ever moment as the sun faded more. He caught it again, now more than ten times the original size. "Hosta lavesta, wally-baby!" He yelled as he swung the hammer, still growing ever larger, at, into and through the poor wall.

He paused after the shrapnel had finished flying around him and stared at the hole he had made. "Okay, maybe not 'hosta lavesta'... um, adieu? I think that's permanent, anyway..." He said, muttering to himself, not really noticing he had switched from Spanish to French. He shrugged it off and tried to walk out the hole he made...

...and blinked stupidly when he realized he had just walked into the town again, through the whole he had just made. It took him a moment to register what happened. He tried to walk through it again, only to find the same result. It almost made his head hurt, trying to make sense of him being flipped without his knowledge, or even a sensation to tell him what was happening.

He sighed and whistled again, trying to lift his spirits when he heard a small thump and some leaves rustle in a nearby tree. He turned sharply on his heel and pointed his hammer in that direction, waiting something to spring out of the tree and attack him. Several minutes passed with him like that, standing there, posed for instant battle. But there was no more noise, not another thump, not a snap of a twig or rustle of leaves, nor any flapping of wings of birds, startled out of their nests.

Slowly, Lavi relaxed his stance, thinking maybe a squirrel had fallen, or something similar. A baby bat who hadn't spread it's wings fast enough. He swallowed his spit and kept walking down the wall, away from the hole and the tree. He didn't whistle this time, though. There was one major problem with being a Bookman besides the obvious 'no attachments' policy. You learned superstitions from everywhere.

Whistling invites demons.

Allen was silent as he prid himself from the tree branch that had chosen an inconvenient time to fall on him and slam his head against the trunk.

000

Lenalee walked almost silently through the town. Most people were on their way or already home, except for those who lived a ways away and didn't have the money or will for a carriage. The walkways were cobblestone and clicked against her heels. She scanned the street constantly, not only worrying about Akumas, but also nervous about some of the more human predators.

She swallowed and continued down main street. Figuring it was finally late enough, she took a few more steps forward as her boots activated and lifted her gently into the air, as though she were walking on glass steps, invisible to the eyes. She soon soared over the town, the sun still setting slowly.

She scanned the streets from the sky, looking for any sort of hint that might indicate something odd. Anything that might mean that they had found a hint to the rewinding city. She was on her second circle of one block when she heard the scream.

"_Where is the innocence?"_

"_No, Please!"_

"_Tell me where it is!"_

She swooped around, flying hard and fast against the wind which had carried the voices. Directly above the end of an alleyway, she straightened her legs and flew down, crushing the Akuma who was pinning a lady to the alley's end. The lady shrieked hysterically as the smoke began to thin out and eventually completely clear.

"Are you alright, miss?" She asked, bending over to the level the poor woman was at, as she had collapsed on the ground and gone into shock. She looked old because of the wrinkles and creases on her face from fear, and her bun pulled high on her head.

"What— oh— oh— please don't hurt me!" The woman shrieked, hovering her head and closing her eyes, as though waiting for something to happen to her. Lenalee blinked in confusion, then realized that not many people knew about the Order. It was sort of sad, she thought, that she had forgotten, even though she had grown up there.

"I'm Lenalee, ma'am, and I'm not going to hurt you," She said kindly, "I'm a member of the Black Order, that was an Akuma, I destroy them, you arent in any danger anymore," She said, hoping that would be all the explaining she would have to do. Questioning time, now. "Why was that attacking you?" She asked. The woman slowly took her hands away from her head and looked up at Lenalee's face, fear written over her pale face.

"I-I don't know!" She stuttered helplessly. "P-please! Please save me!" At that moment, she lept up and latched around Lenalee's waist, crying on her uniform. "Has the day ended? Did it go back to normal! PLEASE SAVE ME!"

Lenalee blinked. "You noticed the day isn't changing?" She asked. The woman nodded her head furiously.

"I'm the only one! No one else knows it, no one notices anything!" She wailed. "Please save me! I cant keep going on like this, please please, _please!_"

Lenalee swallowed and slowly tried to pry the woman off her. Helping her sit down in the alley, she pulled out her golem. It flew around her head a few times, stretching it's winds, tired from being in her cloak for so long. It finally paused in front of her face a minute or so later, all the while, the women stared at it as though she thought it was about to grow fangs and bite her head off.

"Lavi, I think we've found someone."

000

Road jumped on Allen the moment he returned from spying on the redheaded exorcist. He was planning on sounded realistic by saying something like 'you're crushing me', but Road looked so happy he decided to just let her keep going. Thankfully, she decided to let go before her grip really did bend his inner structure.

"Well?" She asked, finally pulling bak and allowing his false internal organs to work again. He smiled softly.

"Nothing of any interest, Road, I'm sorry," He said glumly. Road pouted before her face suddenly burst back into a smile.

"Ah well, I can make this fun anyway!" She cried loudly, flinging her arms around him again. "Alleeen!" she continued. "Lemme play, alright?" Allen smiled as she opened her door beneath them, letting him fall though first and cushion her fall.

000

It was morning again. The transition of nighttime to early morning had been slightly horrifying for Lavi and Lenalee. It would have scared anyone who witnessed time flying by as though it were a real, physical, touchable thing. Miranda had collapsed and vanished in front of them when it had happened, finding them again in the Belini bar, where Lavi and Lenalee had hoped her to show up at. Of course, there would have been a problem if Miranda didn't drink, but she had confessed the previous night that she was a heavy drinker, not so much because she was addicted, but more of her being in constant depression.

They moved not-so-steadily through each topic, each question bringing more and more dramatic hysterics from Miranda. Being trapped in a rewinding town and being the only one to notice it while already having a horrible life must have been quite traumatizing.

It took them a good long while to start getting worthwhile information. Miranda did eventually calm down and answer questions well. The trick was to ask them in a way that wasn't so serious. Casual questions, or questions asked in a casual enough way that they didn't seem serious.

It was hard, and it required a lot of focus, so much that even Lavi had to ignore what was happening around them while asking. That was a bad thing.

That was a very bad thing.

They only realized that when Miranda screamed and the faint click of a gun was heard behind them.

Lavi spun around, grabbing his hammer and growing it instantly to a size so large it broke the table. Lenalee grabbed Miranda, dragging the poor woman into the air and spinning into a fast kick, hitting one of the Akuma in the forehead, knocking it backwards and back into the others. Miranda shrieked and wiggled in her grasp, but she wasn't released and she didn't fall.

"Lenalee, go somewhere safe," Lavi yelled from the floor below her, "I'll handle the Akumas!" Lenalee paused in mid air.

"You cant get them all—" She cried back, falling into a back flip to avoid one smaller Akuma's attack, which apparently caused wind projectiles. Miranda shrieked again, not wiggling anymore, but holding onto Lenalee for her life.

"Yeah I can," Lavi called back, and as though to prove himself, he struck his hammer into the large Akuma that had been kicked by Lenalee moments before. It crushed it quickly. "Hurry up—" He called, pulled his extended hammer back close to himself quickly enough to block an attack from the second large Akuma, which spewed blue ice everywhere.

Lenalee bit her tongue and turned to go through a smashed window. Before taking off, she yelled, "If you don't come back, I'll kill you!"

Lavi chuckled at the joke, spinning his hammer around to knock into the Akuma again. It didn't destroy it this time, but it definitely caused a bit of damage. He head the loud swoosh of wind and knew Lenalee had left with Miranda. He chuckled quietly, facing towards the Akuma.

Now the only problem was making sure his golem was intact to find her later.

He almost smacked his face, but that would have made him even stupider as he realized their one mistake.

He was currently destroying their regroup spot.


	5. Blood on the Wall

**Waaah! I got dick again TT.TT -hacks- I havent gotten colds this often ever... -sniffles- gaaah, I cant even sleep... I need RodAl...**

**Ignore this part**

**..and I'm watching Bleach right now... STUPID ORIHIME! RUKIA'S IN CONTROL RIGHT NOW, SO ATTACK THE IDIOT WHILE SHE WONT DEFEND HIM! DON'T MAKE A SCENE RIGHT NOW, I KNOW IT'S A PLOY TO MAKE A FRIENDSHIP ARC, BUT THAT'S NO EXCUSE TO MAKE ORIHIME A TOTAL BAKKAAA!! X000**

**No DGM this week, and this is short because there was difficulty writing Lenalee... she's so amazing, especially compared to other female manga leads, but she's so difficult to set a personality on... Inspiration running low, and spellcheck is the most evil thing ever. This is reporter Akky, with the news.**

**...it's one thirty (A-frickin'-M), cant I be entitled to act a little loony? -sigh- And I couldn't take the risk of writing a very graphic torture scene with Allen cuz I'm at my dad's house, which is small enough to hear the maniac laughter whenever I write things like that... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

**Disclaimer: If I owned D.Gray-Man, ALLEN WOULD ONLY WEAR HIS VEST AND PANTS, WEAR GLASSES HAVE HIS MASK ON MORE OFTEN AND PREFORM ON THE STREETS REGULARLY! -weeps with the image in her mind- **

Lavi sighed, tired and breathless, his left shoulder aching horribly from the that the reamining larger Akuma had landed. The bluish fire itself had faded after a few minutes of being latched onto his arm, but the effect was not yet gone. A flesh wound for once. He should be elated that the Akumas hadn't managed a bad blow, and in a non-lethal place as well.

Still, it hurt as he staggered through the streets, still trying to figure out where exactly Lenalee and Miranda had gone. And so he found himself, as previously stated, staggering through the streets, asking people, anyone really, even kids, where a woman called Miranda Lotto lived. Of everything stupid he had done while being Lavi, this had to be very high up on the list of stupidest. Asking for a regroup while not knowing where the hell they were going to regroup.

That would teach him to not listen to Lenalee. Next time, he would just let her stay and help with the Akuma. It would make life so much simpler... No, no, don't bother regrouping, we're all already here!

At that point, a loud clanging sound filled he street and Lavi's forehead burst into metaphorical flames as he hit a lamppost. He fell backwards, clutching his head as what felt like a migrane set in. Several people in the streets turned to stare at him as he swore in German, which he saved exclusively for such times as these. Then he blinked. _Shit_, he was in Germany. Oi, that was just a great bag of dung. He abruptly switched his language to French, which had no real reason for him to be—_ Dammit_,Germany bordered France, didn't it?

Ah, screw it. He went for Japanese. It was practically a dead language now, only used by Japan survivors and people who happened to know the survivors. Lavi had been taught all the words he knew by Kanda, because the Bookmen didn't all know Japanese, sadly. There was absolutely no way anyone in Germany— or any country that happened to boarder Germany— could know Japanese. It certainly wasn't the ideal language for swearing, being mainly focused on manners, but it certainly had enough words and phrases to get his point across.

In his rage, confusion and embarassment, Lavi failed to notice the window opening above his head until the dark haired maiden in the window called out his name. And a few Chinese profanities, as well. It was roughly along the lines of 'come up already', if the world absolutely had to know. "_Fichu_," Lavi muttered, somehow forgetting about Japanese and switching back to French. He turned on his heel and dashed into the apartment as Lenalee brought her head back in.

"Lavi!" She screeched, running up to catch him as he tripped on one of the stairs, almost resulting in another injury. He silently thanked whatever celestial being up there that Lenalee was the fastest person in the Order, second fastest to Yu when her Innocence wasn't activated. Lavi sighed. He was having very bad luck today. Lenalee pulled him back up on his feet and almost carried him (not truly, but it seemed like she was, as she took all his weight onto herself), leading him into Miranda's apartment, where Lavi noticed the older woman immediately.

She was slumped against a large grandfather clock, which was ticking steadily as she wiped the glass frame that protected the pendulum, muttering something very dark.

_Very _dark.

"...Wh... why is she...?"

"I explained about... us... and she's been that way ever since..." Lenalee muttered in response to his question. Lavi suppressed a shudder. She was... depressing... Not that he'd admit that out loud.

Lenalee picked up a first aid kit from the table. When Lavi raised and eyebrow she just said "No one ever comes back without a scratch" and proceeded to force him into a sitting position to bandage his arm. At first glance at the inflamed wound, she scolded him for being so careless as to get hit like that. Thankfully, she concluded for herself (Lavi had tried to say he didn't think it was as servere as it looked, but she wanted to decide that for herself) it wouldn't be very servere or long-lasting, only paining him for a day or two at most until the skin would be healed. She dabbed serum, which at first was frigid but soon heated Lavi's entire arm uncomfortably, around his would and very thinly over it before wrapping it in a thin cloth bandage several times. At the end of everything, Lavi looked like he had an unnaturally large muscle.

"What happened to the Akuma?" Lenalee asked as she neared finishing, hooking a clip on the end of the fabric and pinning it to his arm, making sure it would not slip and allow the wound to inflame anymore. Lavi stalled, feeling his arm and seeing how much he could move it with the bandage on, trying to decide how to explain exactly what had happened, which he had no clue how to, even after his stall time had run out.

"Well... the Akuma sort of... ran away..." He said slowly, still working on a way to explain it effectively. The confused look Lenalee was giving him certainly didn't help much with his nerves. "I mean, hey just kind of... stopped attacking really suddenly and then they just started panicking."

"Why?" Lenalee asked sceptically. Akuma never ran, after all.

"I don't know," Lavi admitted, "But someone ordered them to return..." Lenalee gave him a look. "Really! They just froze and I heard someone say 'get back now' and then they just took off!"

"_Who?_"

"I don't know, I didn't see them," Lavi cried. He only had one eye, but it had never failed him before, "But it was a guy, and I remember what he sounded like!" His one eye widened in joy at his half-redemption. Lenalee laughed weakly at his enthusiasm. Unseen, they were both trying to devise some solution or explanation as to why the Akuma had obeyed the male's voice.

"Lavi..." Lenalee muttered, "Do you think there might be a Noah?" Lavi gagged on air. Lenalee sighed. "I'm Komui's little sister, Lavi, I know about them just as you do being a Bookman and the others do with experience," Lavi blinked and nodded. He supposed that made sense. Lenalee had also been in the Order longer than anyone else, she had probably even seen a Noah a few times. He shook the questions out of his head, Lenalee had already confirmed she knew of the Noah, no need to hide anything he knew of them, then.

"I doubt it was the Noah, they don't need to speak to communicate with the Akuma," He said. "More likely it was a higher level Akuma what was in charge of the lower levels," Lenalee nodded, his theory made sense.

"But those were level twos, right?" She asked, "That means there's an even higher level Akuma or a Noah in here, doesn't it?" Lavi gulped.

"And we cant get out without getting the Innocence before they do..." Lenalee nodded and gulped as well. They both turned and stared at the woman who was still weeping and washing diligently the grandfather clock, muttering promises and obsanities, darkly asking no one in particular why it absolutely had to be her. She was their only link to the Innocence and the only way out of this suddenly very dangerous city.

"Miss Miranda, please help us."

000

Road groaned softly as Allen rolled his palms and twisted his wrists on her back, moving up and down her spine. He lightly dug his fingernails into her skin, but it was actually rather enjoyable. She rolled her shoulder blades out impulsively with his hand's movements. He was some sort of God, or he had magic hands, or whatever. All she knew at that point was that his back rubs were god-send after a long day. And it really had been a long two days. She was tired after an all-nighter.

Despite how she usually preferred to put herself before everything, she only had four Akuma in the city before the time had begun to rewind and she had to make sure to have them last until at least the nearing-final battle with the exorcists, when she could leave the city again. With the Akuma as stupid as they were, that was no easy chore. As the thought entered her mind, she realized that Allen had only brought back three Akuma.

"Allen, what happened to the last Akuma?" She asked. Allen's hands kept in motion as he answered promptly.

"An exorcist destroyed one before I was able to arrive."

"What?" She lept up, throwing Allen back into the wall with the force. He remained silent as Road towered over him. Silent and patient for the rage she would take out. "We don't have many Akuma right now and we cant get out of town before the Innocence stabilizes or is destroyed, and you're telling me we're down an Akuma?" She kicked up, into his gut. Allen gagged and hacked as his back scraped up the wall, lifted several feet by the force of her kick. He clutched his stomach as he hit the floor again. He should have had the wind knocked out of him and been in nearly impossible pain.

"Allen, we're in trouble!" She screeched, "I'm not getting my hands dirty fighting them, but three Akuma wont stand up to two exorcists!" She gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled him off the ground, shaking him roughly and banging his head into the wall. Strings of color dotted his white hair as blood tinted it closer to dark pink. It didn't even register that she wouldn't even have to get her hands dirty if she really wanted to kill them, it wasn't Allen's place to say such a thing in any case.

She dropped his collar and he slid limply to the floor again, hands at his sides. He waited for her to give the say-so to get up again. Road didn't say anything, she turned away and stalked around the hotel suite she had Allen get for her. She was never quite sure how he had gotten it, nor did she really care. The fact was, no one would disturb her in here. Though she would have been quite fine with just killing all of the hotel staff, she knew it would not work well if word got around there was a serial murderer on the loose who could kill so many people in a single night.

She sighed and walked to the door, then paused and turned around. "Well?" She barked angrily, "Are you coming or what? I have a job for you, dumbass!"

Allen quickly managed to get onto his feet, his wounds healing over as he moved, and he walked past Road and held the door open for her. Road smiled smugly and glanced back at the slight bloodstains on the otherwise white wallpaper before snatching a shawl off the coat rack and walking out the door. Now _that _gave her an idea.


	6. Akuma in the Bookshop

**Neeed sleeep.... I really have to stop staying up so late... really, it's 3:10 A.M. right now... gaaah. **

**Well... here's the next part of Coin Operated Boy. RodAl will be back next chapter, I swear. **

**I think I had a bit too much fun with the action scene.... way too much fun -cackles- really... it was just great imagining icicles rain down... I don't know if it's very well written or not, but it was definitely fun to write!**

**Sorry this took a bit to write... as I said before, Lenalee and Lavi are hard to write --.--' they just don't want to come out...**

**disclaimer – give me a break, alright? One chapter is all I ask... (warning: 'One' can be repetitive)**

How many days had they been trapped in the rewinding city? Just a few too many for Lavi and Lenalee's tastes. They had spent the past few days trying to work up Miranda's confidence and get her employed, thinking that the Innocence, the grandfather clock in Miranda's house, had been responding to her negative emotions.

The way they had _stumbled _upon the discovery of the Innocence was rather humorous in a sense. And it all began with a cat that happened to wander into Miranda's apartment. Lavi had not been paying attention and... well, everything just kind of went _forward_ from there.

Quite literally, _forward_.

And so, they found themselves scrounging around for jobs after some large fiasco they they wouldn't even bother mentioning in a mission report when they returned to the Order.

But before they got to go back to the Order, they would have to get out of the city, which brought them back to their current situation, which involved a minimum wage of a bare handful of marks and books. Lots and lots of books. Which Lavi had little objection to, but he was really having a hard time keeping his mind on his and Miranda's work and out of whatever book he happened to be holding at the time.

Miranda poked him and he jumped out of what felt like his skin, slamming the book he had been currently reading shut quickly on instinct. The poor woman, startled by this reaction, lept back and apologized profusely for interrupting him. She was on her third apology in broken English when Lavi was able to register what was happening around him.

He looked over at Miranda, sighed, and began to try to calm her down. He didn't really notice when the young boy came up to him with a book until he had been tapped on his shoulder numerous times.

"_What?_" Lavi asked, spinning around, his elbow almost connecting with the boy's head. "_Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't notice you!_" He cried in German. The boy shrugged and smiled.

"_It's fine, sorry for disturbing you,_" He replied happily. Lavi blinked. Something was really off. The boy was odd looking, if nothing else. His coat was long and dark, the hood pulled up over his hair and covering everything about his face except for the light glow behind the seemingly silver eyes.

And even better yet, the voice almost instantly connected in Lavi's almost infinite memory. He smiled and played along anyway. "_What can I help you with?_" He asked cheerily as ever. The boy laughed weakly and held up a book to him.

"_My friend is turning twelve, I would like to know if you would recommend it for her,_" Lavi inspected the book's title and glanced at the inside cover with the description on it. He smiled. For an Akuma, the demon sure had good taste for twelve-year-olds, if he was honestly playing the part of a friend and unaware that Lavi was an exorcist.

Lavi vaguely wondered about the supposed Akuma in front of him. The boy looked young from what he could see of him. Who had he lost to become an Akuma? The usual questions he had always wanted to know about Akuma, but probably never would. How the Noahs treated them, how the world looked from their view, and if the souls really called out to the Innocence to kill them like the higher-ups at the Order claimed.

He realized quite soon that his musings had led him a bit too far and he quickly shut the book, handing it back to the Akuma. "_You have good taste in literature,_" Lavi said, smiling. "Too bad, I'd love to ask you about a few books, Akuma," He muttered darkly in English. The Akuma's eyes widened.

Throwing the book aside, the boy dashed to the door, startling several people nearby. "_Miranda, keep shop! I'm going after the Akuma!" _He yelled, sprinting out the door. Miranda breathed in sharply, startled by Lavi's sudden declaration of an Akuma.

"_Miss?_" A young girl tugged at her dress. Miranda paled. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no! She couldn't handel a customer all on her own! "_Miss!_" The little girl chanted again. Miranda looked down slowly, looking at the young girl, who had puffed out cheeky and looked angry about something.

"_Miss, why was that man chasing after my brother?_" She demanded, stomping her foot. Miranda trembled. She wasn't expected to explain to a little girl that her brother was a demon bent on destroying the world, was she? She tried to pull away and act like she didn't realize the girl was there, even though it was slightly too late for that, when a hand gripped her wrist.

"_Why don't you make this easier on both of us?_" The girl asked. Miranda trembled in her grip. She didn't seem much like an innocent little girl anymore. She seemed more... sinister. "_Where is your Innocence? My doll cant run forever,_" Miranda flinched.

"_Why did it have to be me?_" She whispered. "_Why my clock..._"

000

Lavi chased the Akuma through the streets, ready at any moment for it to explode out of the boy's skin and turn to attack him. He had the same voice as the person who had ordered the Akuma to abandon their attempt to kill him earlier. If those had been level two, then this Akuma had to be even higher level than them to order them around.

Oh man, what if he was chasing a level three all alone?

He pulled out a golem, hoping it still worked inside the barrier made by Miranda's clock. "Lenalee, I found the Akuma," He hissed into it. Lenalee's startled voice came out of the other end. "I'm chasing him a few blocks down from the bookshop, he's got a black cloak on and looks like a kid."

He waited. The sound of air moving rapidly came through the golem. Lenalee was flying and carrying the golem with her, apparently. The boy took a sharp turn into a wide alley. Lavi skidded, barely following him on the sharp turn, his hammer out of it's case and ready to be activated as he saw the outline of Lenalee swoop down beside him.

"This is him?" She asked. Lavi nodded, activating his hammer and having it grow several sizes as the Akuma hit a dead end and spun in the back of the alley to face the two exorcists. They waited for him to break skin... but he never did.

Ice suddenly rained down on them from above. Lenalee shrieked in suprise and flew at Lavi, knocking them both behind a dumpster and out of the spray. Lavi grunted and twisted his head around as a long icicle plunged into the metal above them with a horrible screeching sound as the metal was bent and scraped against the ice.

"SHIT!" Lavi yelled, growing his hammer to twice his and Lenalee's size, hoping it would cover them enough to strike back. The force of the hammer expanding behind it upset the dumpster, which tipped and scattered garbage around the alley, which they learned the moment they returned to the open...

...had been completely covered in ice by the Akuma's attack. The sudden cold overtook them quickly. It was impossibly cold for fall. Impossibly cold for _Germany_.

The raining ice had stopped. Lavi looked around the alley from under his hammer with Lenalee. In fear of another attack from above. The boy was no longer at the end of the alley. Lavi swore as a manic laughter echoed down from above.

He managed to look up from the hammer's curve. The boy still hadn't broken skin, instead, he was siting calmly on one of the Akuma from the bar. The one with four faces on it, which had the sonic wave attack. His hood had fallen down and now Lavi could just barely make out the stock of white hair flaring wildly below the cloudy gray sky. A thin streak of red was all that identified his shadowed face from his backdrop. Even Lavi, a Bookman, would have thought him headless otherwise.

The Akuma were attacking together. The largest one swooped down again, ice and snow flooding out of its mouth as it flew towards where Lavi and Lenalee kept their defense behind the overturned dumpster.

"Move!" Lenalee yelled, flying out from under the hammer as Lavi smacked the ground, sending himself flying several feet into the air. Lenalee twirled around, flying under his legs and pushing up with her hands and the acceleration of her boots. Lavi flew even higher, more in control now, towards the direction of the white haired Akuma.

The Akuma the boy was sitting on opened one of it's mouths and out came a horribly loud sound like nails on a chalkboard. Lavi screamed, but he was in the air already and unable to change his direction. He swung his hammer up and as far towards the two Akumas as he could.

Lenalee knocked the large Akuma in the head again, flying off of it and into yet another dance with the smaller Akuma, which kept throwing scythes made of wind at her, so they couldn't be reflected or blocked, just kicked in half or dodged. She had fallen down to fight the two Akuma after boosting Lavi, hoping to buy him a clear field for just a moment while he tried to crush the leader of the Akuma.

That was when she heard Lavi's scream and saw the way his hammer shook as he threw its blunt side to the four-faced Akuma and the leader.

"Lavi, look out!" She yelled up at him, forgetting completely about the two Akumas she had been fighting a moment before. She only realized the mistake a moment later when a sudden horrible cold took over her body. She felt her arms and legs stiffening, even as she willed them to move.

Creeping up her neck and covering her face.

She closed her eyes desperately and breathed in deeply as the ice finally came all the way over her.

"Lenalee!" Lavi yelled, looking down just in time to see her freeze over completely, a large statue that grew up from the ice covered ground. He was falling by then. The Akuma had finally stopped it's supersonic attack, but Lavi was clutching his ears, hearing the obscenely loud beating of his eardrum, which he had been sure had popped.

Strands of white descended from the sky. Very thin white strands, like hair or thread. Lavi looked up as they began winding around him, slowing his fall. The white Akuma was surrounded by a cloak and lowering him slowly to the ground.

Lavi slammed his back into the wall the moment he had his own free footing. He held his hammer ready, waiting for the Akumas to attack again, though he could think of no reason why they had halted their attack and waited for him to land.

He was counting the seconds as they went by. Counting the seconds that Lenalee had been trapped in ice. She couldn't last long, people only lasted a few minutes without oxygen. Lavi could feel the panic rising as the four Akuma surrounded him. The white one, the leader, was the last to come in around him.

The Akuma turned to the largest of his underlings. "Unfreeze the girl, Road will want to play with them."

The larger Akuma nodded quickly and the ice around Lenalee began to melt away. She collapsed on the cobblestones of the snow-covered alley. Lavi watched desperately out of the corner of his eye, still trying ot focus on the Akuma in front of him.

When the white haired Akuma looked at Lavi again, he stepped forward slowly. "Good night."

"Wait!" Lavi cried desperately as the boy came closer. "What the hell are—"

He slumped onto the alley floor, with Lenalee.

All black.


	7. Freak and Noah

**No pitchforkers, please? I honestly have no idea why this took so long to write, but.... well, let's leave the list of excused to synonyms of 'crap' hitting the fan at a rapid pace... I'm trying to update everything.... I probably wont be able to do absolutely everything, but it's worth a shot... **

**This was _supposed _to have an epic battle scene and a cheesy, omg-HINTING ending, but somehow, it got tangled up in Allen POV and I got sentimental for him (blame '_My Immortal_', it's piano. Piano means lots of Allen crap) so... next chapter, you get the epic fight scene and omg-HINTING ending... **

**and the next chapter has a spot that I was really tempted to put some lime in, but I didn't... but I wrote it anyway... so, does anyone want a vote on if they want that little bit up too, along with the next chapter? It'll be in a separate fic, though, so... yeah 0.0; I'll shut up now, but do tell me if you all want it up...**

**Uh, actually, one thing before I shut up. The rhyme thing? It makes no sense, right? Well, there's this rhyme that goes "_[your name here]'s my name, [activity here]'s my game" _and Road butchered the rhyme by saying "_my happy time" _instead, which annoyed Lavi, cuz not only does it sound stupid, but it's a butcher phrase. Okay. Shutting up now.**

**disclaimer: can I have one break of doing it??? **

Lavi moaned in pain as he awakened, his eyes seeing nothing and his ears not connecting the words he heard. His arms were riddled with streams of pain ripping through them from his hands, but in his numbed state, he only felt a painful tingle streaming around his arms like wires had been wrapped around them and were being tightened against his skin.

Objects were still fuzzy as he swung his head around, looking for something but never quite knowing what it was or what he was seeing anyway, but it didn't really register with him to give up, either. The pain in his arms slowly grew, the wires beginning to grip around his chest as well. His eye saw a little bit, and he managed to pick up the color of red.

"Road he's awake," Was the first thing he could hear and understand completely before a sudden blazing pain shot through his arms and clutched his whole body with what felt like electrocuted wires. He opened his right eye as best he could, half shut and glaze over with the pain he did manage to distinguish the shape of a person.

A white haired boy, in fact, the white haired supposed-Akuma they had chased into the alley. He held a mallet in his hand and Lavi almost screamed in horror when he realized with yet another wretched jolt that his hands were being nailed to the wall. His stomach suddenly seemed to turn and he was sure a few pounds had just dropped off him.

"GET AWAY!" He yelled, finding his voice very suddenly. Without his hands though, he wasn't exactly in a position to fight, and so the boy simply continued driving the stake farther into his hand and the wall.

"Get away from Lavi!" Lenalee's voice demanded. Lavi looked up again before howling in the pain as the stake was completely through his hand. Lenalee was staring down at him from above, tied to a chair and in a frilled black dress that looked like something a noble would dress their children in for amusement.

The sickening drips of blood leaking down from his hands made his stomach move again, rising up to his throat and then down again to his groin. Everywhere in between was just a strange squirming feeling as the pain rocketed through him as constantly as the rapid breaths from his throat.

"You freak! Get away from him!" Lenalee screeched again, yelling at the boy and not the small girl by her side, whom she had decided was just another akuma, possibly one of the ones who had attacked Lavi at the bar. The boy must have been the one in charge, or else be taking orders directly from something else. What else could he be?

A broker had crossed their minds, but somehow they had decided he could not be human.

"Well, Allen, you heard the exorcist, you might as well leave him be," The cherry-sweet voice called, wafting from the small girl that Lavi had failed to notice in his pain. Lenalee turned and Lavi lifted his head to the scene of the boy actually getting up and walking away from Lavi without a complaint. He stopped at the young girl's side and turned to face them again.

"Who... who the hell are you?" Lavi yelled, straining his neck on impulse though he couldn't not move forward in fear of ripping his hands in two. He was only human. He could only strain his human hands so much.

The little girl giggled at him, "You havent figured it out yet, Bookman?" she asked. Lavi blinked. She knew he was a Bookman? "And here I thought your race was supposed to be brilliant," Lavi growled and his hands began to bleed even more from the weight against the spikes in them. "Oh well, I guess there are some exceptions like that," She shrugged shortly and smiled like poisonous honey was dripping from her mouth.

It was then, in the silence of shock and Lavi's anger that you could hear a soft weeping from somewhere in the room.

"Let Miranda go!" Lavi yelled. "Where is she? She has nothing to do with this, let her go!" The girl smiled and gigged an insanely high pitch at his plea.

"Think for a moment, exorcist," She said, "We don't want to be trapped here forever, either. What in this town _isn't _that woman's fault?" She said it so loudly that it echoed around the room, and the wailing increased. Lavi winced at the volume. Dammit, it sounded like Miranda was about to snap... how long had she been here? How long had he been out?

"Miranda!" He yelled, louder than Road. He glanced at Lenalee for a bare moment and saw her struggling against the ropes that held her to the chair. "Miranda, where are you? Don't listen Miranda!"

The wailing lessened a bit, though just a bit. The girl giggled. "Is MiraMira that important to you?" She asked. "Do you want to save useless MiraMira?" The wailing faded to a wrenching sob, somewhere in a far wall. "MiraMira who trapped us all in this city? Trust me, Bookman, what I'm doing is going to help all of us get out," She cooed. Lavi grunted as his hands burned again, he barred his teeth and tried to with hold a little longer. Lenalee had one rope down.

"Y-you're the one.... i-in charge?" He managed. The little girl smiled.

"Bingo, Road's the name, killin's my happy time," She chanted. Lavi winced at her butchering of a childhood rhyme. _'My game', little bitch_, he thought savagely.

"Road..." Lavi mutttered. "W-what are... you?" The ropes were almost done, then one snapped just a bit louder than the others. The white haired boy beside her turned to the sound and stiffened.

"Isn't it obvious?" Road asked, amazed. She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "I'm a Noah—"

"ROAD!" A sudden white light erupted from the boy as he dashed between Road and Lenalee, her boots activated and glowing brightly, aimed for the Noah.

The flash of light grew blinding.

There was a pained yell.

As Lavi's sight returned, the scene before him way laid out. The white cloak the boy had been wearing before had returned, and it now seemed less like fabric but a curving steel barrier that he had erected to try and prevent Lenalee's boots from reaching him and the Noah.

It apparently failed. But not the way it should have for an Akuma. An Akuma should have exploded, let Lenalee's Dark Boots go right through it.

There was a hole in the cape where she had broken through, and the heel of her Dark Boot was dug into the boy's right arm, which he had put up to shield himself. A sticky red substance was pouring out of where she had completely penetrated his skin.

And behind him stood the Noah he had just crippled himself to save, standing quietly, some sound surprise on her face, but utterly uncaring that this—this— whatever he was— had just protected her from certain death.

Lenalee realized what her heels were kicking into and dislodged her foot, flying back towards Lavi. The white cape vanished and the boy held his arm tightly, his right eye closed and peering carefully through the slit of his left eye. Road snickered and jabbed at his bloody arm, making him breath in sharply and make a soft pained sound.

Lenalee wasted no time in kicking up a blinding malestorm and spinning around to wretch the spikes out of Lavi's hands. He shouted, jarring pain returning for a single horrid moment before it faded again. The air stung the holes, what would have been considered by doctors 'a clean cut' let him see a bloody floor through them.

Lenalee wrapped her arms around him and pulled him up, holding to her chest as she kicked off and flew to the other side of the room. Wretched pain flew through Lavi as wind passed through the holes in his hands. "Lavi, are you okay?" Lenalee cried over the sound of another of her twisters. She paused to kick up several more in the direction she thought the boy and Road were. Lavi shook his head slowly, with difficulty against the wind pressure against him.

"H-How did you get it untied?" He yelled. The wind grew louder and his headband flew off his head, hair uncontrolled began flying into his face.

"There was a candle nearby," She yelled back. "I managed to grab it and cut the ropes."

Lavi nodded against the wind again. "Where are we going?"

"To Miranda!"

000

"Well that was interesting," Road stated, digging a nail into Allen's new wound. She hadn't known that Coin Boys didn't even need their Master's consent to do something, not that she didn't mind the extra little blood she managed to get out of the experience. Allen shuddered made soft whimpering noises as she continued to dig around in the wound. "Why didn't you mention she could do that?"

"S-she—ACH—di-didn't do it, before," He managed. Road nodded, pulling her newly bloodied fingers out of the great shoe-shaped indent that was prominent on his pale right arm. She looked around at the white cloak that now covered both of them, shielding them from the windstorm that could be heard outside, the cloth around them flapping and waving like jell-o that had been hit several times with a hammer and somehow hadn't splattered.

She stuck the bloodied fingers in her mouth and began to lick them, tasting the cherry-sweet, thick fluid. "Fine. Heal up, then," She muttered, not sparing her gaze for the remarkable healing ability the boy had. The skin on his arm stretched across the wound, creeping like it was alive while the blood faded lighter and lighter until it was the color of his pearly-white skin. "Think they can find the lady?" She asked absentmindedly.

Allen didn't nodded, he just said "The girl was awake when you hid her, Road."

Road sighed. "I hate it when exorcists are stubborn," she muttered, "I mean, it's fun when you're hurting them, but any other time, could they learn to back down?" She asked to no one in particular. Allen stayed in a respectful silence, allowing Road to rant on whatever she hated about people for several more seconds until the wind died down.

"Open it," Road muttered, not knowing if he would or not without her telling him. A seam split across from them, laying before them the wreckage of the room that Road so loved to hurt people in. She frowned. "This'll take _forever _to clean up," She muttered, glancing around at her mangled toys with their stuffing strewn about the floor and the ripped wallpaper with the dimension exposed from behind them. Allen remained silent behind her as she stepped out and examined the remains of her room, which the exorcist had so _ruthlessly_ destroyed.

He himself was beginning to act on the programming that _Road_ was unconsciously instilling into him, and acting on that slow programming, he was also scanning the area, his eyes darting from one place in his socket to another, taking in everything in the room with his electronically filed memory, but everything else on his was stilled. In his peripheral vision, he was keeping watch on _Road_ as well. He was listening for the exorcists, waiting for them to make their move, but it was such a long, quiet wait.

Had he had his own emotions he would have been frightened, waiting for the enemy to make their move from the shadows where he would be killed instantly from one of their lesser attacks as they would then move on to a surprised _Road_.

But the circuits in his brain cut off those thoughts and that emotion.

And so he was simply waiting, waiting for the exorcists to come or waiting for _Road_ to give him and order, but nevertheless, he was waiting.

"Allen," _Road_ said, bringing his wait to an abrupt halt as he turned towards _her_ voice. "Take one Akuma and find the exorcists," _she _said. "Surprise them."

Allen smiled softly, charmingly as he could. He made it like candy. "As you wish it, Road," He turned to one of the Akuma, his smile slowly fading as he motioned for the small four-faced one to come with him.

With the Akuma by his side, he bent his knees like he had in a foggy memory, like that of a past lifetime. Then, he jumped up onto the rubble, into the settling dust of the room, following his orders like a lifeline.

Because, they came from _her_.


End file.
